Netflix: Emmy noms are good, but earnings better be too

Carl Icahn has yet to sell even just one share of his stake in Netflix, and for good reason: the stock is currently trading at a three-year high and may soon be on its way to an all time-high.

While shares of the usual high-flier bounced around the breakeven line Thursday, they've been having quite the run.

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) have rallied 10% over the past five days, and have nearly tripled in value just this year.

Hedge fund manager Icahn, who first disclosed his stake Netflix in late 2012 and owns nearly 10% of the company, said Wednesday that he has yet to sell even one share.

Speaking at CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference in New York, Icahn said he considered selling the stock earlier this year, but his son, who originally picked the stock, threatened to quit. So he decided to sit tight.

"When a guy makes me about $100 million in a month and a half, I don't punch him in the mouth, I thank him. And I thank you, Reed," said Icahn. "I like Reed. He's a smart guy."

There was more good news for Netflix Thursday. The company made television history by being the first Internet streaming service to score Emmy Award nominations.

Altogether, Netflix's original shows, including House of Cards, Arrested Development and Hemlock Grove, received 14 nominations.

The momentum stock received plenty of attention on StockTwits, with some traders questioning how the stock will perform as Netflix gears up to report earnings next week.

HarryWanger$NFLX Unless you're trading in and out or booking gains/losses, none of this matters come Monday eve. Either over 300 or back to 230 on ER.

Should Netflix deliver a strong second quarter, the stock could certainly rally, if history is any indication. In April, when Netflix handily beat analyst's first-quarter earnings expectations thanks to strong subscriber gains, the company's stock climbed more than 24% in one day.

Another trader, however, seemed skeptical of whether Netflix's subscriber growth has kept up.

dcav$NFLX Subscriber growth may have substantially slowed due to all the new competition.

It's certainly possible, but Netflix also released cult-favorite Arrested Development during the second quarter.

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Another trader also worried about why Netflix executives, including chief financial officer David Wells, have recently been unloading shares.

dmcleod100$NFLX Carl isn't selling, but NFLX's officers are! What's up with that? Why would they be selling, if they are going to beat the est.?

Still, some traders seemed to think the stock will maintain its momentum, and is in fact, trading below where it should be.

scherf_com
300+% profit within a year is nice, but $NFLX is totally undervalued, it's worth at least $500/share. The "secret" is called monetization.

But other also questioned whether Netflix's stock has gone too far too fast.

alpagoode$NFLX No one has said the b word yet. So i will. Bubble? Hmmm!

Hibah Yousuf is a reporter at CNNMoney, where she covers stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies trading across the globe, as well as corporate earnings and other markets-related news. Prior to joining the site in 2009, she interned at Money Magazine.